Vienna (Wien)...The City of Music.............
We awoke early as this will be a full day with some fine feathered company outside our window.
It is 9 AM when we meet Elsa, our local guide, who begins with a bus tour of the city. This is home to 1.8 million people, four opera houses, five subway lines and parks galore. Prater Park, a former royal hunting ground twice the size of New York's Central Park, dominates as we cross the Danube canal into town.
The Danube was dredged here to minimize flooding and the earth removed in the process forms a thirteen mile island in the center of the Danube, the city's playground. Bike paths crisscross the space and walking paths abound in this verdant refuge. Life sized chess boards and unusual animal figures that children can mount and ride (as long as someone is pushing) add to the mix. It is also home to some nondescript apartments with an Eastern Bloc look.
Nearly one-third of Austria's population live here, in the seventh largest city by population within a city limits, in the European Union. Vienna hosts the United Nations and OPEC and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
We are cruising along the Ringstrasse, Vienna's ring road that incircles the old city center, built over the old walls of the city that were demolished in the 1800's because of the burgeoning population. Within the confines of this busy road lie the Opera House, the Parliament, the Hofburg Palace, countless museums, green spaces and churches. Don't overlook the opulent hotels.
Traffic is daunting, especially for a large bus. Here is perpetual motion between the cars, street cars, buses and foot traffic. One thing I didn't see was bicycles.
After Elsa's commentary we take the road out of Vienna toward today's museum du jour, The Schönbrunn Palace, a former imperial summer residence. Located a mere fourteen miles from the winter residence in the city center, the Hofburg Palace, it likely seemed a great trek over the poor roads of the 1700's.
The Empress Maria Theresa received the estate as a wedding gift and supervised the redecoration of the exterior in the neoclassical style as it appears today. The back of the palace opens onto many gardens, orangeries, a botanical garden and a maze. Lined with 32 sculptures representing dieties and virtues the expanse is beautifully kept and very impressive in scope and design.
But the showstopper is the sculpted garden space between the palace and the Sun Fountain called the Great Parterre which is anchored by the Gloriette monument at the top of a hill. Maria Theresa, who ballooned to a 250 pounder in her later years, liked to be carried up to the Gloriette in a sedan chair to enjoy her hot chocolate. It's good to be Empress!
The palace was damaged in WWII and the Gloriette monument was totally destroyed and rebuilt. Requisitioned to provide offices for the Allied Occupation of Austria from 1945-55, the palace became a museum once again when the Austrian republic was reestablished in 1955.
While it is still early, there are swarms of humanity everywhere. Elsa buys our tickets and we enter the palace through a side entrance. No photography is allowed inside the exhibit rooms. Elsa gives excellent commentary through the twenty plus rooms on the tour. We see every type of marquetry, gilding, frescos, Bohemian crystal chandeliers and tapestries that one could imagine, a testament to opulence and excess. I am yearning for the quaint German towns we previously visited.
When we are finished, the crowds are even thicker. It seemed as though a good percentage of the 2,600,000 yearly visitors were here today.
Everyone is glad to be back on the bus and headed to our rally point outside the Albertina Museum centered in the shopping district. Our first priority is to sit down and hydrate, so we are joined by Doug and Lynn in search of the Sacher Hotel and a little Sacher Torte and coffee. Well, we got turned around and opted for the first great looking place with tablecloths. Choosing a restaurant when you don't speak German can be challenging. Imagine our surprise, when presented with an English menu, that we are in a Greek restaurant.
Not to worry....it was a fun change of pace from our Bavarian fare and the food was great. I would like to report that we used our time diligently running from quality museum to museum, but we chose instead to wander around the city looking into windows, enjoying the green spaces and being awed by the stately buildings....and some beautiful Lipizzaner horses in the Spanish Riding School.
Back on the ship, we head to the top deck to enjoy the sun and the views of the Danube. We will stay here overnight, leaving for Slovakia tomorrow morning.
We awoke early as this will be a full day with some fine feathered company outside our window.
It is 9 AM when we meet Elsa, our local guide, who begins with a bus tour of the city. This is home to 1.8 million people, four opera houses, five subway lines and parks galore. Prater Park, a former royal hunting ground twice the size of New York's Central Park, dominates as we cross the Danube canal into town.
The Danube was dredged here to minimize flooding and the earth removed in the process forms a thirteen mile island in the center of the Danube, the city's playground. Bike paths crisscross the space and walking paths abound in this verdant refuge. Life sized chess boards and unusual animal figures that children can mount and ride (as long as someone is pushing) add to the mix. It is also home to some nondescript apartments with an Eastern Bloc look.
Nearly one-third of Austria's population live here, in the seventh largest city by population within a city limits, in the European Union. Vienna hosts the United Nations and OPEC and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
We are cruising along the Ringstrasse, Vienna's ring road that incircles the old city center, built over the old walls of the city that were demolished in the 1800's because of the burgeoning population. Within the confines of this busy road lie the Opera House, the Parliament, the Hofburg Palace, countless museums, green spaces and churches. Don't overlook the opulent hotels.
Traffic is daunting, especially for a large bus. Here is perpetual motion between the cars, street cars, buses and foot traffic. One thing I didn't see was bicycles.
After Elsa's commentary we take the road out of Vienna toward today's museum du jour, The Schönbrunn Palace, a former imperial summer residence. Located a mere fourteen miles from the winter residence in the city center, the Hofburg Palace, it likely seemed a great trek over the poor roads of the 1700's.
The Empress Maria Theresa received the estate as a wedding gift and supervised the redecoration of the exterior in the neoclassical style as it appears today. The back of the palace opens onto many gardens, orangeries, a botanical garden and a maze. Lined with 32 sculptures representing dieties and virtues the expanse is beautifully kept and very impressive in scope and design.
But the showstopper is the sculpted garden space between the palace and the Sun Fountain called the Great Parterre which is anchored by the Gloriette monument at the top of a hill. Maria Theresa, who ballooned to a 250 pounder in her later years, liked to be carried up to the Gloriette in a sedan chair to enjoy her hot chocolate. It's good to be Empress!
The palace was damaged in WWII and the Gloriette monument was totally destroyed and rebuilt. Requisitioned to provide offices for the Allied Occupation of Austria from 1945-55, the palace became a museum once again when the Austrian republic was reestablished in 1955.
While it is still early, there are swarms of humanity everywhere. Elsa buys our tickets and we enter the palace through a side entrance. No photography is allowed inside the exhibit rooms. Elsa gives excellent commentary through the twenty plus rooms on the tour. We see every type of marquetry, gilding, frescos, Bohemian crystal chandeliers and tapestries that one could imagine, a testament to opulence and excess. I am yearning for the quaint German towns we previously visited.
When we are finished, the crowds are even thicker. It seemed as though a good percentage of the 2,600,000 yearly visitors were here today.
Everyone is glad to be back on the bus and headed to our rally point outside the Albertina Museum centered in the shopping district. Our first priority is to sit down and hydrate, so we are joined by Doug and Lynn in search of the Sacher Hotel and a little Sacher Torte and coffee. Well, we got turned around and opted for the first great looking place with tablecloths. Choosing a restaurant when you don't speak German can be challenging. Imagine our surprise, when presented with an English menu, that we are in a Greek restaurant.
Not to worry....it was a fun change of pace from our Bavarian fare and the food was great. I would like to report that we used our time diligently running from quality museum to museum, but we chose instead to wander around the city looking into windows, enjoying the green spaces and being awed by the stately buildings....and some beautiful Lipizzaner horses in the Spanish Riding School.
Back on the ship, we head to the top deck to enjoy the sun and the views of the Danube. We will stay here overnight, leaving for Slovakia tomorrow morning.
They come in chrystal...?
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